WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 4, 2018 13
LETTERS AND COMMENTS OP-ED
CHANCELLOR’S
INTERESTING
CHOICE OF WORDS
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s
recent comment that she is proud to
have brought back dignity to teaching
is a noble sentiment. However, it
would have been more to the point
had she said she was proud to have
protected the profession’s dignity. No
matter what her predecessors in the
chancellor’s offi ce took from teachers,
they could not take away their dignity.
Robert Berger, Bellerose
HEY GUV:
YOU’RE NO ROBERT
MOSES!
Here is my 2018 New Year’s wish
for Governor Cuomo: Stop believing
you are the reincarnation of the late
master builder, Robert Moses.
Please fi nd real money instead of
picking the pockets of taxpayers and
riders with bonding, loan term loans
and other budgetary gimmicks to pay
for your $100 billion worth of transportation
promises.
For starts, how about the $5.8 billion
you still owe toward fully funding the
$32 billion MTA 2015-2019 Five-Year
Capital Plan; an additional $1 billion
you pledged in response to last year’s
NYC Transit subway and LIRR Penn
Station crises; $4.3 billion balance
needed toward $6 billion Second Avenue
Subway Phase 2; $7.25 billion for
your 25 percent share of the $29 billion
Amtrak Gateway Tunnel along with
paying back the $1.6 billion dollar federal
loan and $1 billion State Thruway
Authority Bond which helped fi nance
the new $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge,
just to name a few.
There is not enough space for
me to list his $100 billion worth of
transportation dreams and previous
commitments.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
WORKING
HARD AT HARDLY
WORKING?
Happy New Year everybody! We
are all another year closer to ridding
America and the world of the current
White House infestation. A man currently
accused by 19 women of sexual
misconduct. A man who, according to
his lawyer, is too busy to address
these allegations, yet has had time
to play more golf in one year than
Bush did in eight while ignoring
the hypocrisy of his comments
regarding Obama playing “too
much golf.”
Trump recently played fi ve days
in a row while having a Palm Beach
Sheriff ’s Department truck block
the view of reporters fi lming him
on the course, lest they report the
“fake news” that he played golf fi ve
days in a row. This was also aft er
Trump said he was “getting back
to work.”
Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation
has cost American taxpayers
$3.2 million so far. Trump’s
fi rst seven Mar-A-Lago weekend
golf trips? $6.6 million in security
expenditures, airfare not included.
Make America great again, my
foot.
Robert LaRosa, Whitestone
Editor’s note: The last sentence
of the reader’s letter contained a
profane reference term to the gluteus
maximus, which we’ve replaced
with another part of the anatomy.
We remind our readers to please refrain
from profanity. This is a family
newspaper.
Email your letters to editorial@
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views expressed in all letters and
comments are not necessarily
those of this publication or its staff .
New York should lead on
reproductive health
BY STATE SENATOR JOSE PERALTA
As New Yorkers, we take pride
when we lead by example.
Our free college tuition plan
and our immigrant legal counsel are
the fi rst of their kind in the nation,
yet we are lagging behind in women’s
reproductive health.
There are eight states that have already
codifi ed Roe V. Wade into state
law, with another 10 expressing their
intent to do so in the wake of what is
happening at the federal level. New
York can ill aff ord to sit idly by.
New York State has the opportunity
to pass two key pieces of legislation
this upcoming year. The first, the
Reproductive Health Act (RHA), or
S.2796, updates NYS law with protections
enshrined in Roe V. Wade. The
law in New York actually predates
Roe: NYS allowed abortion three years
prior. The state needs to update its law
and pass the RHA.
As part of the overall attack on women’s
reproductive health, contraception
coverage is also being restricted.
Here in New York, we have the Comprehensive
Contraception Coverage
Act (CCCA) or S.3668, which provides
insurance coverage for FDA-approved
contraceptive drugs and devices. This
bill has passed the Assembly in each
of the last two years, and the time has
come for the NYS Senate to pass the bill.
Under the CCCA, insurance companies
would have to provide costfree
coverage for at least one type of
FDA-approved contraceptive, including
emergency contraception. The bill
would also apply to voluntary sterilization
procedures, extending coverage
to both men and women, and would
prohibit insurance companies from
using medical management review
restrictions to delay contraceptive coverage.
In addition, the measure would
also allow patients to receive a 12-month
supply of contraception at a time.
A 2011 study found that dispensing
a 1-year supply of birth control is associated
with a 30 percent reduction
of unplanned pregnancies and a 46
percent reduction of abortions.
Roe V. Wade established that every
women has the constitutional right to
make her own personal medical decisions.
Now, 44 years later, we owe it to
every female New Yorker to ensure
that we protect their ability to access
reproductive healthcare, regardless
of their economic status.
Access to contraception has proven
to lower unintended pregnancies,
improve public health outcomes and
help stabilize the economic well-being
of women and their families.
Comprehensive Contraception Coverage
must be brought to the Senate
fl oor for a vote. At a time when women’s
access to healthcare is in jeopardy,
New York must stand up.
Jose Peralta is a state senator
representing the 13th Senate District
and a member of the Independent
Democratic Conference.
A LOOK BACK
The New York State Pavilion and
Tent of Tomorrow are some of the
last remaining pieces of the 1964-65
World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows
Corona Park. During the fair, the
pavilion’s two space needle towers
served as observation decks and a
restaurant. The Tent of Tomorrow
was covered in stained glass and
had a terracotta map of New York
state on the fl oor. Send us your historic
photos of Queens by email to
editorial@qns.com (subject: A Look
Back) or mail printed pictures to A
Look Back, ℅ The Queens Courier,
38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
All mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you.
